1991 Olds 3.8 V-6 engine question

[purplepickup]

It might be a good idea for me to spend an hour or so now to save a possible big hassle somewhere down the road.  There's one more thing on the "to do" list.    :?

[rooster]

oil pan off first.... big piles of plastic and metal in the pan.  Chain is not broke.

Aluminum cam gear is missing it's plastic teeth and most of the aluminum under the plastic teeth is broke off too.

Magnet on the cam gear is in good shape, cam position sensor is good too it looks


Cam gear spring and plastic button are wiped out that keep the cam from walking out of the block.

It is a dirt simple car to do this work on. Less than 1 hour I had the parts off the engine.....

for you guys with similar cars..... this car has 128k miles on it

Tony, did you remove engine to do this work? When the engine went South did it just not start or drop dead while driving?

With the plastic buttion wiped out I would think you would have had some warning, being a non-magnitic contact with the sensor.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

engine is in the chassis.  I am not removing this engine from this pile of S car.

the car was running very poorly before the "brain storm" drove it to Texas.  His dad ( my brother ) had given  the" brain storm" a list of  parts to buy for a tune up ..... my brother thinking the car needed it

I am getting ready to buy some parts when I get some cash from my brother... I ain't a bank.  

Tony, did you remove engine to do this work? When the engine went South did it just not start or drop dead while driving?

With the plastic buttion wiped out I would think you would have had some warning, being a non-magnitic contact with the sensor.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

If y'all were curious what the stripped camshaft gear looks like.......

Photo is not too clear, sorry.  I took 5 snaps with camera on the 'close' setting to get this.

[tomslik]

If y'all were curious what the stripped camshaft gear looks like.......

Photo is not too clear, sorry.  I took 5 snaps with camera on the 'close' setting to get this.

sooooo, how's the valves?

[50chevydan]

you should check and see if it is a resistance motor, if it is I would think that you should be fine. But I think it might be too old, I am not sure.
I would call a GM dealer or look it up.
                                                             Dan

[Crosley.In.AZ]

sooooo, how's the valves?

don't know.  

I have the engine parts cleaned / ready to go together.  waiting on my brother to pry open his wallet.

If the car runs good upon reassembly, we will drive it.  If it runs  poorly... we ( I ) will pull the heads

[tomslik]

sooooo, how's the valves?

don't know.  

I have the engine parts cleaned / ready to go together.  waiting on my brother to pry open his wallet.

If the car runs good upon reassembly, we will drive it.  If it runs  poorly... we ( I ) will pull the heads

why don'tcha pull the rockers and do a leakdown on 'em before you waste a bunch of time and money?

[Crosley.In.AZ]

why don'tcha pull the rockers and do a leakdown on 'em before you waste a bunch of time and money?

the bottom end has to go together any way.

after that part is done I will fire the motor and see if it runs good.  If not I will pull the top end apart.  If it runs good , we will install antifreeze/water and remainder of stuff......

If I have to do the heads I will , and there will be no water in the oil since I will run the engine dry for a minute or 2 to see how it runns.  Bent  vavles will show up quickly I am sure.. LOL

My brother will not have money for the head work , so I am not getting too deep too soon.  :?

My bro is a good guy , but I do not finance his reppair work.  I've got  a  flat spot on my head from banging the wall with my fore head  from previous stuff.

Remember the exhaust manny fold you sent me ??  He still has NOT installed it .... since I avoid bringing the subject up on my labor to do it...     the car sounds like a claimer dirt car when cold...

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Well, I went and did it.   :?

I bought the parts for this car with my money.

We (I) will assemble it this weekend.  I am sure it will run like a dream when I hit the starter,

if it runs like a turd, I will tell tomslik he was correct and pull the heads off

[enjenjo]

I have a brother like that too Tony :oops:

[Crosley.In.AZ]

I know my bro is good for the money... just a matter of 'when'.    

I fiddled with the car tonight since I got parts.  I am still amazed at how easy this FWD car is to work on... keep in mind I have the car on my hoist.  When I need to work on the underside of the car , I raise the car up.

[tomslik]

you might want to replace the magnet while you're there, they have a tendency to fall off

[Crosley.In.AZ]

you might want to replace the magnet while you're there, they have a tendency to fall off

I used J-B weld to glue the magnet into it's mount thingy.  A dab of lock tite on the cam shaft bolts too


J-B weld is the epoxy euqal to duct tape...